Airing tonight on FX, UNHOLY NIGHT is this season’s penultimate episode of AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM and is (within our memory, at least) the grisliest, goriest and most graphic holiday fright-fest ever. And, as if that weren’t enough to get your blood rushing, award-winning actor IAN McSHANE joins the cast as a Santa you really, really don’t want coming down your chimney. The creative brainchild of producers RYAN MURPHY and BRAD FALCHUK, the series is a truly effective celebration of blood, gore and things that go bump in the night made all the stronger by cast members JESSICA LANGE, EVAN PETERS, JAMES CROMWELL, LILY RABE, SARAH PAULSON and ZACHARY QUINTO.

During a Television Critics Association press conference to introduce the series, RYAN MURPHY talked about the shows that influenced him as a kid and, eventually, led up to this (but we’re willing to bet they never had an episode like the one that airs tonight!). (CLICK ON THE MEDIA BAR FOR AUDIO)